RC Lens is attacking its second part of the season in a complicated context, taking full brunt of the storm of uncertainties that the winter transfer window can generate. But Will Still remains optimistic and relies on a group that he feels is focused on its objectives.
« It's not because Brice wants to leave that everyone will want to leave. », Launched Angelo Fulgini at a press conference on Friday. However, the question is legitimate: if Brice Samba, in addition to other possible interests, has apparently been shocked by the turn that the Lensois project is taking in his eyes, what about the other players? Could the captain's desire to leave create a draft that would lead to a flight of executives beyond the departures desired by the club to get on track with the DNCG?
Questioned on the subject a few hours before we learned that the file for the departure of Brice Samba had been put on standby, Will Still, who returned in more detail to the Lens transfer window, commented: “ We lose an important element, we lose a personality, we lose a good player. But which once again will be replaced. And no player is more important than the collective. And never will be, especially not in Lens. The group, at the moment, is full of qualities. So obviously, there are absences with Kodir (suspended), with Fac' (retained in Argentina for personal reasons), with Neil and the other injured. And despite that, when you see Thursday's session, when you even see this (Friday) morning's session, there is an energy and a positivism that emerges. So, worried, no, because you know that players are going to leave. There is never an ideal timing. And that of the winter break never is either. But that's it, it's part of life. Yes, we lose quality, yes, we lose this, we lose that. But I don't want to focus on that anymore. I don't want to waste energy on something I can't control. So I'm going to focus on what I control. And what I control is the squad, it's Sunday's match against Toulouse. And that’s to take three points, quite simply. »
A group that doesn't let itself be disturbed?
The transfer window period, whether summer or winter, is never easy for a group that has to face many uncertainties. The players themselves sometimes do not know that they will no longer be there the following week and have reason to wonder every day if this or that traveling companion will still be there the next day: “ The group, you would have to ask them. But from what I've seen in the sessions, all week here, since the resumption, it's gone really welltempers Will Still. There are some very, very good things. There are a lot of implications. There is a lot of seriousness in what we do. The group remains very, very united and very, very strong. They follow everything we ask of them to the letter. They are super involved in what we want to do. And they are all aware that we want to take points from the upcoming matches. »
However, the coach's work is not made easy either. Which team will Will Still have under his belt after the transfer window closes on February 3? What visibility does it have to work comfortably? The technician, who had already experienced a last winter transfer window in Reims including the departure of Azor Matusiwa to Rennes, believes the club is prepared for these uncertainties: “ This is work that we have done in advance since I arrived at the club. I think you are still preparing for a transfer window, or even two or three, which will arrive. We are well aware of what could happen, of what could be done. And we always said we were going to be competitive. If players are forced to leave, they will be replaced. And they will be replaced by quality, because we want to achieve the objectives we have set for ourselves. So there is a lot of recruitment work, and the recruitment unit is handling it very well until now. And the players who need to be sold will be sold, and the players who need to arrive will arrive. But again, I don't have too many concerns about that. It's part of the life of a coach, it's part of the life of a club. And the work that needs to be done is done. So, honestly, there is a certain serenity about what is going to happen, or what is happening for the moment. » The best answer would undoubtedly be a victory on Sunday against Toulouse. In any case without Brice Samba.
Christophe Schaad, with Eloise De Mester.
